Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Unoffendable

When I was a small child I loved to follow my grandpa around like a puppy. Every night before bed he would empty his pockets onto his dresser. Keys, coins, and a small oval-shaped agate gemstone with a thumb-sized depression on one side appeared. He told me the agate was his worry stone.

I had no idea what worry was at six, and he didn’t tell me. He showed me how he rubs the stone and handed it to me. I thought is was beautiful, smooth, almost silky, it was warm, and I wanted one.

Today, I know what worry is and one of the biggest causes is how much I can become offended or offensive to others.

I can get offended easily

Take for example, the driver passing on the right while the rest of us are merging lanes with the precision of a zipper. Or, the rude shopper that reaches over me to grab the item I’m considering. I get offended, and if I allow myself to worry about these everyday offences I can become the offender.

Then the worry starts. I worry about being hurt by someone, and I worry about hurting someone.

Why do I worry?

Because, I care

The beauty is that I have Holy Spirit to convict me and teach me how to care in a godly way. He teaches me things to stay unoffendable, like create good boundaries, apologize, empathize, and love people anyway.

Today, I have a choice to worry or not. I have a choice to be offendable or unoffendable. ♥

by Jana Rawling

 

† By God’s Grace.